A GROUP of budding mountaineers are planning to scale Everest from the comfort of a high-rise office building in the centre of Middlesbrough.

Butterwick House Children’s Hospice in Stockton has organised the 29,000ft charity climb - swapping the scenery of the Himalayas for the stairs of the Centre North East building.

The first team to sign up for the event on Sunday, March 30, is a group of brave estate agents from Thornaby-based Snail Homes. But staff at the hospice hope lots more teams will follow their lead in coming weeks.

The climb is expected to take around eight hours - with each group having to tackle the 18-storey building a total of 125 times.

Director of Snail Homes, Russell Belton, said: “It’s a shame Everest is the highest mountain in the world because I’m sure they could climb even higher than that.”

In teams of five, each member will have to climb to the top of the building 25 times, which is twice the vertical height of England’s highest mountain - Scafell Pike in the Lake District.

Butterwick fundraiser Andy Norris said: “It’s a brand new thing for Teesside and the wider area that the hospice also covers.”

Staff and volunteers from the Butterwick Hospice will be providing refreshments, first aid and general moral support from “base camp” - the building’s third floor.